Boston Bruins: Adam McQuaid OK After Dirty Hit.
At the end of today’s Bruins-Rangers game, Rangers forward Tanner Glass got into a shoving match with Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid. Glass chose to bring his stick into the scrum and popped McQuaid in the head with the butt of his stick, lacerating McQuaid over the left eye. The Department of Player Safety quickly sanctioned Glass for his bone-headed stunt. He was fined the maximum $3,987.15 by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for that lapse in intelligence. Thankfully, McQuaid seems to be OK, other than the welt on his head.
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Glass could have been retaliating for an earlier hit by Matt Bartkowski. Bartkowski put Glass into the boards, and then ended up fighting James Sheppard. I’m a little surprised that Bartkowski didn’t receive a minor for the board. Whatever his motivation, hitting another player with your stick is just plain wrong. For those of you not checking the box score, Glass finished with fifteen penalty minutes, two giveaways, and fourteen minutes of ice time.
“He took a bit of a butt end in the face, so I haven’t checked him out, but again those are things that if need be the league will look into,” said Claude Julien after the game.
Glass is not exactly having a banner season this year. He’s put only four points (one goal) this season and is a -14. Glass has tallied seventy-six minutes in penalties this season, and his contract has a $1.9 million dollar cap hit. See Bruins fans, we’re not the only team offering questionable (if not borderline insane) contracts to people.
Adam McQuaid is a player who is fighting to keep his job in Boston. Quaider has had a seriously rough run these last few seasons, suffering injuries that have severely curtailed his playing time. McQuaid has missed eighteen games this season to injuries this season. With the injury to Dougie Hamilton, Quaider is getting a big opportunity to show Boston why he needs to stay with the Black and Gold.
McQuaid is one of those intangible players that I would like to see stay with the Black and Gold. He’s fearless. He has no problem getting into dirty areas and doing whatever it takes to keep the puck out of the hands of his opponents. He’s also the face of the Bruins for Boston’s anti-bullying campaign. When Dougie Hamilton first came to Boston, McQuaid opened the doors of his home to the rookie defenseman, and helped him acclimate to his first season in the NHL. (I think we all Quaider a beer for doing his part from keeping Dougie Hamilton turning into another Tyler Seguin off-ice mess.)
Hopefully, McQuaid can help the Bruins hold on to their very tenuous grasp of the last playoff slot in the Eastern Conference.